Memory Loss Can Be Interesting
by pantomimeperfectable
Summary: After a misfired spell hit Harry, he lost his memory for a few days. He now has a new view on Hogwarts, and thinks Slytherins aren't as bad as people think they are. There's this one Slytherin who catches his eye, though...
1. Chapter 1

**Memory Loss Can Be Interesting**

Chapter One:

Harry woke up on an unfamiliar bed. As he opened his eyes slowly and blinked against the bright light flooding his vision, he registered voices coming from the side of the bed. Apparently they noticed he was awake, because they stopped talking and a girl exclaimed, "Harry! Are you alright?" Everything was fuzzy, so he felt around and someone handed him a pair of glasses.

He put them on and was suddenly bombarded with questions. He looked up to see a girl fidgeting with the sheets of the bed and a boy with red hair, both wearing similar expressions of concern and expectancy. Harry realised they were waiting on him to answer, so his mind reeled to find the right words.  
"Um, what- err, who- rather, um…" He stuttered uncertainly, his answer seemingly making the pair grow even more worried.  
"Harry, what's wrong? Are you alright?" the girl asked, staring at him intensely.  
"Do you want me to get Madame Pomfrey?" the boy asked hesitantly, as if he didn't really want to leave.

Harry looked at them for a few moments, extremely confused, until he finally blurted out the question at the top of the very long list that he needed to ask.  
"Who _are_ you?" his exclamation seemed to startle the two of them at first, then the boy looked at him as if he were crazy. The girl looked puzzled at first, but then Harry saw the look of realisation on her face.

"Oh, no…" she muttered, then fled across the room. The boy watched her go before he turned back to Harry, looking even more confused than before.  
"What are you on about, Harry?" he asked, unsure what was going on.  
"Why do you keep calling me 'Harry'?" he replied, starting to get agitated. The boy looked at him confusedly, then unbelievingly, before the girl returned with a strict-looking woman.

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger tells me you don't know who she is." The woman asked him, no expressions on her face to give away her thoughts.  
"Um, what? Yes. I-I have no idea who she is, or this guy, or you… I don't even know where I am!" he was getting increasingly panicked- he woke up with no knowledge of where he is, what he's doing there, who he's with, or more importantly who _he_ is! The woman seemed to sense his panic and continued in a more soothing voice.

"It's alright, Mr. Potter. You are in the hospital wing in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Madame Pomfrey, the nurse here, and this is Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley." She watched his reaction carefully, getting concerned as she saw him contemplate this new information, looking puzzled, then panicked again, and finally appearing nonchalant.  
"I see. And why are they here?" he replied carefully, trying not to let his casual tone slip to betray the chaos he was actually feeling. Hermione and Ron looked at him in surprise at first, the red head then looking hurt and Granger seeming to be deep in thought.  
"I'm your best friend!" Ron burst out, gaining a disapproving look from Madame Pomfrey.

Harry watched him curiously, still appearing calm and controlled. _Then why don't I know him? _He thought, trying to look back into his memories and realising, with a jolt, that he had none. No memories whatsoever. This thought made his panic spin almost out of control, and he fought to keep his face schooled into a casual expression.  
"My… best friend. Then you should know. Why am I in the hospital wing?"  
Ron appeared to be trying not to laugh, causing Hermione to scowl at him and nudge him with her elbow. Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as if to say 'Well?'

"Uh, well, you see, um…" She paused a moment to collect her thoughts. "We were in charms, and Neville- well, no one knows how he did it, we weren't even practising anything on each other, but-" she stopped when Harry sighed, exasperated. She looked sheepish and continued. "He misfired a spell and it hit you… We're not sure what it did, though, because we have no idea what he did! Neither does he, for that matter…" She looked down at her shoes.

Harry tried to work it out in his head. _Charms? Misfired a spell? What does that mean? Well, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry… so does that mean these people are witches and wizards? Am I a wizard? What could a spell do to me? Especially if they don't know what it was…_ All these thoughts were whirling around his head when Hermione spoke again.

"Harry, are you alright?" _Harry? I'm obviously Harry… And Madame Pomfrey referred to me as Mr. Potter, so… Harry Potter? That's my name then?  
_"Yeah, I'm fine. Um, can I ask you something?" He continued after her quick nod. "What, exactly, _could_ that spell have done to me?"  
All three looked uncomfortable, until Madame Pomfrey spoke.  
"Mr. Potter, tell me about yourself." Ron looked at her weirdly, but Hermione watched Harry, anxiously awaiting his answer.  
"Uh, well, my name is Harry Potter, I'm at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and my best friend- _friends_ are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. I, uh…" he trailed off, not knowing anything else. _I hope she's my best friend, otherwise they'll know I'm bluffing._

Madame Pomfrey nodded sharply, then walked away, while Hermione's shoulders sagged and Ron just looked even more puzzled.  
"Harry, I'm so sorry!" the girl said quietly. Ron looked at her, alarmed.  
"Why? What for?" he asked in a rush. Hermione looked at him sadly.  
"I think Harry's lost his memory." Ron gaped at her, then turned to Harry. Before he could say anything, Harry nodded.

"I think she's right. I can't remember anything, and I only know what you guys have told me." Ron gaped even more, and Harry thought he slightly resembled a goldfish. "In fact, I'm certain that's what happened, so you guys can just use another spell or whatever to get it back, right?" He looked from Hermione to Ron hopefully, but the looks they were giving him said it all.  
"It's not that simple, is it?" _Why not? It's obviously magic, why can't they just use more magic to reverse the effects?_

"No, it's not that simple, I'm sorry." Said an unfamiliar voice from the end of the bed. Harry looked up to see an old-looking woman with glasses, dark green robes and a pointy hat.  
"Professor McGonagle, is there anything that can be done?" Hermione asked her pleadingly. McGonagle shook her head.  
"Since we don't know what spell Mr. Longbottom cast, there is no way of finding a counter for it. We are hoping that it's only a temporary charm, and will therefore wear off in a few days, which is probably more likely considering the ability of Mr. Longbottom regarding spells." Ron sniggered at this, earning a glare from McGonagle.

"So I should get my memory back after a few days?" Harry asked her, trying not to laugh at her hat.  
"Yes, Potter. You should, if this is, in fact, a temporary charm."  
"Can he go back to normal everyday life in the meantime?" Ron asked, anxious to get out of the hospital wing. It was unnerving to him just how much time he spent here by Harry's bedside.  
"Yes, he can. After Madame Pomfrey checks him over once more, you three can go to class." The three of them nodded in affirmation and she left.

After Harry had been checked over again, he got up, collected his things and followed Hermione and Ron to the Gryffindor tower (They spent a considerable amount of time explaining each house, their characteristics, the importance of houses, earning points and things of that nature). He put away his belongings and they continued to their next class, Potions.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

According to Ron and Hermione, Slytherins, whom they were sharing their potions class with, are cunning, deceitful, and are practically never friendly with Gryffindors, nor any other house, for that matter. Harry wondered why they had such low opinions of the other house. _I'll form my own opinion, thank you very much. They can't be that bad!_

When the three Gryffindors entered the potions classroom, nearly everybody stopped to stare at them. While Ron and Hermione seemed quite uncomfortable, Harry walked in with a slight air of confidence, which seemed strange for him. Usually he'd be blushing with everybody watching him. People started to wonder exactly what the stray charm had done to him.

Professor Snape sneered at them and deducted 10 points from Gryffindor as they entered, but otherwise paid them no attention. Once he had glared at the class, everyone continued making their potions, talking amongst themselves.

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down, and as the latter two began their potion (Harry wisely opting to sit this one out), he gazed around the room, thoughtfully taking in the students. He could easily distinguish Gryffindors from Slytherins thanks to the coloured ties, and he could see the differences in their demeanours, but still he wondered if the students with the green ties were as bad as his friends thought.

_I wonder if they've actually tried to get to know the Slytherins._ Harry wondered as he watched a pair of students, one Slytherin and one Gryffindor, start fighting over their potion. _Maybe that's just the impression they get from seeing them around the school._

Harry was snapped out of his musings as he realised his gaze had landed on a particular Slytherin, who was now sneering at him in a most unfriendly way. Harry smiled back, but just received a weird look, so he continued observing the rest of the class.  
_The Slytherins are all masked, _Harry thought. _They're all trying to hide away their real thoughts and feelings. Like I did in the hospital wing…_ He realised suddenly that he was being spoken to, and tuned in to what was being said.

"-really sorry, Harry, I didn't mean to! I didn't know what I was doing, I'm sorry! Please forgive me, it was an accident!" There was a dark haired boy standing in front of Harry nervously, apologising over and over. _This must be the one that hit me with the spell… What was his name? Uh, Novel? Niville?  
_"Uh, it's alright, Niville." Harry interrupted the boy's ramblings, hoping he'd got the name correct. Apparently not, as Hermione then whispered "Neville" to him.  
"Oh, yes, Neville, sorry." Neville looked confused at the mistake at first, but then went back to apologising again. Hermione managed to calm him down as Harry stared at him, thinking him slightly crazy.

Once Neville had returned to his seat, Harry turned to his two friends.  
"Yes, he's always like that." Ron stated in reply to Harry's expression. Before he could say anything, yet another boy stepped in front of his desk.  
"So, Potter, I hear you yet again put yourself in danger unnecessarily. How little you change." He spoke in a drawl, and Harry thought he was obviously used to insulting people.

Hermione rolled her eyes while Ron scowled, but Harry just blinked at the boy and took in his appearance. _He has really blonde hair. And his skin's very pale. _He briefly wondered if the boy had ever set foot in the sun when he gathered he was supposed to reply. He was beaten to it.

"Shove off, Malfoy." Ron glared at the blonde, trying to look intimidating. Malfoy just smirked and turned back to Harry.  
"I know you're a complete dunce, Potter, but I thought you were at least capable of insults, even if they are stupid and unoriginal. Clearly, I was wrong." This earned sniggers from the Slytherins closest to them, as well as some glares and eye-rolls from the Gryffindors.

"And I was under the impression that you had more facial expressions than that ugly sneer and that revolting smirk, but obviously I, too, was wrong." Malfoy seemed slightly surprised at this, as usually Harry's insults weren't very thought out and he could almost laugh at the boy's stupidity, but this seemed like something he would say, never mind Potter.

Malfoy scowled as the Gryffindors took their turn to laugh, and even some of the Slytherins let out a few chuckles.  
"Oh! Wow, another expression! I congratulate you, Malfoy, although this one's even uglier than the last." This time people burst into laughter, and Malfoy blushed slightly while glaring at Harry.  
"No, I'm sorry, that was rude. Was there something you wanted?" Harry asked the Slytherin, smiling at him. Harry noted how Malfoy looked shocked, as did a considerable amount of other students, and wondered if it was something he said.

"Uh, so Malfoy isn't your first name, right?" Harry asked, hoping that it didn't raise any suspicion. He didn't want people to know he had no memory.  
"…No, Potter, and you know that fine well." Malfoy was back to his sneer, and Harry nodded, processing this new information. _Malfoy isn't his first name, and judging by the way he speaks to me, we aren't friends. Why aren't we friends, though? _Harry realised he must've said that last thought out loud, because Malfoy twitched slightly and Ron sniggered.

"Sensitive topic, Harry." Hermione said quietly, causing the Slytherin in front of them to almost yell out, "It is not!"  
"See what I mean?" she murmured, avoiding looking at Malfoy.  
"Oh." _Was it something I did that caused us to be unfriendly? Seems likely, seeing how he's reacting._ "Sorry if it was something I did to cause you to be so nasty to me. Maybe you'd like to be friends now?" Harry tried hopefully, sensing that life would be easier if he befriended Malfoy, rather than fought with him.

Ron and Hermione stared, shocked, at Harry, as did most of the people that heard him say it, including the blonde standing before him. His shock soon turned into an angry scowl as he replied, "Why would I want to be friends with you, _Potter_?" with emphasised disgust on 'Potter' before stalking back to his seat.

Harry watched him confusedly, running back through the information he already knew about this Malfoy character. _He seems to be slightly bitter with me over something. Ha, slightly. What an understatement. _He made a mental note to ask Hermione about him later, and turned to watch someone's potion blow up in their face, oblivious to the whispering that was going on in the classroom.

A/N: Second chapter up! It may be a while before the third, though, because I had already written half the second chapter when I put the first up, which is why it's up so quickly. Now I have to write a whole new chapter, instead of half, so it will probably take a few days. But hey, I might surprise myself and get hit with a lightning bolt of inspiration, motivating me to write the whole thing sooner! But I won't get my hopes up. :)

Thank you all for the reviews, it makes me happy when I get them. :D  
Also, I apologise for the mis-spelling of McGonagall in the first chapter, as was pointed out by VoldemortsMohawk. Thanks for that, it won't happen again.  
If I make any more mistakes in the future, please let me know! I like to learn from my mistakes, and I can't do that if I don't know I've even made one in the first place.


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